DC Comics Rebirth Analysis Part 2

Welcome geeks from all over the world. DC Rebirth is going to be a huge event for comic book fans so it only makes sense to take a look at DC’s entire catalogue of titles coming this year. In part 1 we took a look at all the Batman-related titles, now it is Superman’s turn.

8. ACTION COMICS

I find this very interesting that we all know Batman by Tom King will be the Batman-proper title, while Detective Comics will be team book a.k.a. the secondary Batman book or even maybe the third (All-Star Batman being the 2nd). In this case we see Action Comics being the Superman-proper title and not the simply called Superman. DC’s WonderCon live stream featured Action Comics before Superman, and I think that Warner Bros. just want to get people hooked on Action Comics since it will be the first comic to hit #1000!!! Rightfully so since, Dan Jurgens will be writing and I am enjoying all his writing work so far (Superman: Lois & Clark). He was also hugely involved with Reign of Supermen and Death of Superman. The artist team consists of Patrick Zircher, Tyler Kirkham, and Stephen Segovia. I really love this drawing team as I love to see a story arc being drawn with somewhat resembling artist style. Justice League: Darkseid War for example messed up in one stop. Geoff Johns had Jason Fabok draw Act 1 & 3, but Francis Manapul drew Act 2. I love F. Manapul’s art, but his art style is drastically different from J. Fabok’s, it just turns the reader off.

Now, this takes time after the events of Superman: Lois & Clark which means Pre-New 52 Superman is back baby! And this time as the main Superman! Sorry New 52 Supes, but you’re boring. So if you don’t know, when Clark Kent (Pre-New 52), his wife Lois, and son Jonathan are forced to live on Earth-Prime, they hide in the shadows. Now Clark will come out of those shadows as Lex Luthor proclaims himself to be the new Superman and protector of Metropolis. This Clark doesn’t believe Lex Luthor wants to be a hero so he must take charge on his own. Just when things couldn’t get more complicated Doomsday enters the panel. More surprises are about to come as Dan Jurgens promises a huge conclusion. This will be a must for me! It will be $2.99 shipping twice a month, starting with issue #957. But what about New 52 Superman you ask?

New Lex Luthor Design

9. SUPERMAN

Nothing I say! This Superman story will also be about the Pre-New 52 Superman. It will be about Clark Kent deciding if he should help his son reveal his powers to the world, or hide them. It’s a very interesting premise that reminds me of Pa Kent in the film Man of Steel, when Pa Kent was trying to hide young Clark’s powers. We know that young Jonathan will reveal his powers to the world as Super Sons will be coming later down the pipeline. Peter J. Tomasi will helm this project in writing meaning I won’t be picking this one up since I was mostly underwhelmed by his recent work (Batman and Robin [2011], Green Lantern Corps [2011-May 2013], etc.). Patrick Gleason will write and draw which as well doesn’t interest my taste.

Now the main question! What will happen to New 52 Superman? Some say he will die in May’s DC Universe: Rebirth #1, but I say he will die in Justice League #50. I have many reasons: 1. Darkseid War needs an epic ending and what other way to do it than kill off Superman, 2. On Free Comic Book Day 2015 there was a prologue to DC’s Darkseid War that very much hinted at the death of Superman. 3. Justice League #51 sees Lex Luthor on the cover with Superman-like suit that we saw on the cover of Action Comics #957 & 958, which must mean he will take on the mantle as he sees the opportunity. 4. The New 52 Superman sucks. You might ask how come I have such a vendetta against the New 52 Superman. I tried giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, but every time I read his stories they bore me to death. All of his story arcs disappoint me! Even Geoff Johns’ run didn’t do it for me, and Geoff Johns is an amazing writer. The only thing that was interesting about him was when he was romantically involved with Wonder Woman. Yes, this will come out in June and will also be bi-weekly for $2.99 each.

10. SUPERGIRL

Steve Orlando, the man who wrote the critically acclaimed Midnighter run during DC You (that sadly I haven’t picked up yet) will take on the new Supergirl series. I never enjoyed the writing in New 52 Supergirl for the exact same reasons I didn’t like New 52 Superman, but I did enjoy the angrier side of Supergirl that I never got to see before. This looks like it will wipe out all that stuff and go back to the goody-two-shoes Supergirl. But hey! Orlando is writing so why should I question the decision especially that I am one of those people who enjoy the Supergirl TV Show. You can expect Brian Ching to draw which is a nice choice.

Now we will see the return of Cyborg Superman who is basically Supergirl’s archenemy! For those who are unaware Cyborg Superman is Kara-El’s father. He wants to take Kara back to Krypton, but once she’s there will it turn out to be her most beautiful dream or her worst nightmare? I wonder what Orlando was talking about when he said ‘bring her back to Krypton’ when it doesn’t exist? Maybe he meant Kandor? Only time will tell. The series kicks off in September, once a month, with the same $2.99 price.

11. NEW SUPER-MAN

Finally a new character that also happens to be Asian. Very nice to see people of the Asian culture being represented by writer Gene Yang and artist Viktor Bogdanovic. I just wish he was an original hero, and not a franchise hero (in this case the Superman franchise). I actually predicted a new Asian superhero being announced as Jim Lee kind of hinted at it before the Wonder Con panel.

I hope with all this baggage we’ll see good storytelling. Yes, it sometimes happens that we get that one title with the only hook to it being, “A hero that is part of a minority is getting his own title!”. It’s nice and all but I hope this will be the case like the new Ms. Marvel where we get a minority character represented, along with great writing. I haven’t read much Gene Yang but I know he wrote Superman (2011) #41-present so if you wanna get a better feel of him you’ll know where to find him. This new character is a jerk, but when the powers of Superman take him in, he becomes a different person. It will come out July 13th, and will come out once a month.

12. SUPERWOMAN

I am really not familiar with Phil Jimenez’s work so I can’t say much about his writing style. If anyone read Wonder Woman, (2000-2003) tell me if he’s any good. His art style is pretty good, but Emanuel Lupacchino is who I wanna give a huge shout-out to. Her art is the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see today so just search up her art and be ready to get jaw-dropped. One problem with this series…. Lois Lane is Superwoman.

Instead of having a new character that hasn’t been used as a supporting character for Superman, they give us Lois Lane. Batwoman was a new character that can be considered a success because so many people love her. Plus wouldn’t it be exciting to have a new character that we don’t know!? Oh well. I will still give it a try of at least 3 issues. Now the question is which Lois Lane will this be? New 52 or Pre-New 52? My guess is on Pre-New 52. 1. She seems to have brown hair (or is it black? The lighting doesn’t help), 2. Her husband and son both have powers so it would be kind of cool to have an entire Super-Family! If you are massively interested you can see this character hit the store shelves in August 10th.

All right! This will be the end of my DC Comics Rebirth Part 2! Make sure to read Part 1 and anticipate Part 3 as we will look at some of the Justice League character titles. If you have any questions about DC Rebirth comment below or hit me up on Twitter! Make sure to check out my Marvel vs. DC series that comes out every Saturday! Peace out!